Sixers-Warriors observations: Ben Simmons' swagger, bench players' clutch scoring fuel big win

OAKLAND, Calif. — The 76ers defeated the Golden State Warriors, 113-104, Thursday night at the Oracle Arena. Here are observations and best and worst awards:

— The Sixers bench is improving. T.J. McConnell, Jonah Bolden, Landry Shamet, Corey Brewer, and Mike Muscala combined to outscore the Warriors reserves, 31-16. Even that’s misleading, considering Kevin Looney scored 14 of Golden State’s bench points. The Sixers group also made 6 of 11 three-pointers. Philly’s bench was an unheralded difference in the game.

— Some might point out that Jimmy Butler was scoreless in the first half after missing all five of his shots. He ended up scoring seven points on 3-for-12 shooting for the game. However, he still had a imprint on this contest. But he shot 2-for-3 in the third quarter, when the Sixers held a 42-26 scoring advantage. His plus-14 in the quarter was second only to Ben Simmons’ plus-16.

— Simmons’ swagger was next-level against the Warriors. Hours after being named an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve, the second-year player had one of those “I have arrived” games. Steph Curry had a game-high 41 points and Joel Embiid grabbed a game-high 20 rebounds. But Simmons was the most dominant player on the court.

— Best performance: Simmons gets this after finishing with 26 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block. The way he controlled the game from start to finish, this was his best performance of the season.

— Worst performance: I had to give this to Quinn Cook. The Warriors reserve point guard failed to score and missed all four of his shots in 12 minutes, 2 seconds of action. He also failed to record an assist.

— Best defensive performance: This goes to Draymond Green. The Warriors power forward had game highs of four steals and three blocked shots.

— Worst statistic: This goes to the Warriors not named Curry combining to shoot 1-for-20 on three-pointers.

— Best statistic: I’m giving this to Joel Embiid’s going 4-for-4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. Those clutch free throws gave the Sixers some breathing room. They went from clinging to a five-point lead with 2:46 left to having a nine-point cushion with 1:08 to play.